Room to Play Showcase Recap with Martin Disley

“Exhibition, collaboration and improvisation filled the halls of Custom House for the Room to Play showcase. This year’s cohort displayed a series of innovative and interactive installations with typical Room to Play eclecticism! Visitor spent the morning and early afternoon engaging with the individual works. From Nick Harbourne’s sometimes delicate, sometimes booming, feedback system which mixed sculpture with sound-world; to Eve King and Rhona Sword’s interactive visuals and soundscape; and Dominika Jackowska’s Rorschach paintings-come-light filters which upon viewing magically altered the accompanying soundscape. Later, stuffed toys refitted with accelerometers that detect movement and playback sound- joyous and playful inventions that had entertained and engaged all ages, by Liam Dempsey- featured as solo instruments, played by the audience, in a collaborative performance with the Tinderbox Orchestra. The same treatment was given to the light controlled instrument by Catriona Smith, made out of a recycled harp frame. The artists did an amazing job engaging creatively with the technologies they had come across, often for the first time, in the Room to Play course. The results were a polished and professional showcase that offered something inspiring and playful to the people of Leith.” –Martin Disley, Room to Play Artist.